Association between Alcohol Consumption and Trauma Incidents among Patients Admitted to General Surgical and the Orthopedic Wards in the Teaching Hospital – Ratnapura

Abstract

Alcohol related injuries are a leading cause of hospital admissions. The objective of this study was to determine the association between alcohol use and trauma among patients admitted to general surgical wards and orthopedic wards in the Teaching Hospital Ratnapura. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study done, among 150 trauma patients over 18 years of age admitted to Surgical and Orthopedic wards from the 29th of September 2022 to the 15th of October 2022 using interviewer-administered questionnaire, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Injury Severity Score (ISS) and National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC). Data were analyzed using SPSS software. According to the results, a positive association between alcohol use and prevalence of trauma injuries were noted with a 58 per cent of alcohol consumption among the sample and no possible association was observed between ISS scores and AUDIT scores. The highest amount of alcohol consumption was noted in the age group between 26-35 years (40.7%) and among the social class 7 in NS-SEC (52.7%). The commonest type of injury among individuals under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident was falls from height (44.4%). The commonest time of the day for such incidents to occur was between 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM (66.66%). No alcohol use was noted among the female subjects. Alcohol use is prominently associated with trauma in this sample, especially among young males. Interventions to reduce alcohol consumption among young males could potentially reduce trauma incidents and save costs for the health care system. Further studies involving larger samples, longer time frames and more reliable measures of alcohol could add more knowledge to this association. In conclusion, alcohol consumption has a significant association with patients hospitalized due to trauma incidents in the Ratnapura area.